Maryland's Dave Cottle and Towson's Tony Seaman have each been coaching college lacrosse for 26 years, and they've started freshman goalies regularly only twice in their careers.

But Saturday in the Face-Off Classic, two of the sport's most dominant teams, No. 3 Virginia and No. 10 Syracuse, started freshman goalies. No. 13 Loyola also starts a freshman in Jake Hagelin (Boys' Latin).

It's such an oddity. Most coaches prefer not having to start freshmen at all, especially in goal.

It certainly won't be a sweeping trend in the sport; it's unique, especially when a team keeps winning.

"You really don't want a freshman in there because he's never been to battle," Seaman said. "He's never seen big-time shots with so much velocity, shots that are so well-placed.

"If you ask most freshmen what has been the biggest adjustment from the high school game to the college game, they'll say the college game is so much quicker, so much faster. For a goalie, the speed and pace of the game triples."

However, Loyola (2-1), Syracuse (2-1) and Virginia (4-0) are not struggling. The Orangemen and Cavaliers are loaded with talent, and Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey's teams always hustle.

To be effective, a goalie usually needs to have a .500 save percentage, and all three are close to that mark.

Virginia's Adam Ghitelman has a save percentage of .477. The Orangemen's John Galloway is at .531. On Saturday, Virginia beat Syracuse, 14-13, in overtime, and both goalies were excellent, with Galloway making 15 saves and Ghitelman 14.

Meanwhile, Hagelin has a .596 save percentage.

Seaman has seen other freshman goalies have instant Success, such as Larry Quinn at Johns Hopkins from 1982 through 1985, and Scott Bacigalupo at Princeton from 1991 through 1994.

"I've never seen one better than Larry Quinn, and Scott Bacigalupo made Tierney [Princeton coach Bill Tierney] famous," Seaman said. "You can be innovative and do a lot of different things when you have a good goalie back there."

But for every one that succeeds, there are several failures. The reasons are numerous. The shots have more intensity and are better placed than in high school.

According to Cottle, the major adjustment is clearing the ball.

"A lot of the young guys have trouble seeing the field, and they can't get the ball where they want it to go," said Cottle. "That's because they're not understanding what they see in front of them. It takes time."

There are also certain mind games you play when competing against freshman goalies.

"With the first couple of shots you take, you really want to get in on him early," Cottle said. "That's because you never know how they're going to react. But on the flip side, if they get going early with a couple of saves, they're tough to play against because they've built confidence."

Seaman had a chance to start a freshman this season in Travis Love, out of Winters Mill High in Carroll County. Instead, Love is being red-shirted while the goalie job is being split between two seniors.

"I know it's tough on him [Love]," Seaman said. "Here's a guy used to playing all the time. He plays with the first-team defense against the first-team offense in practice, and he's seeing a lot of rubber. But in the future, he's going to be a starter and I think he will appreciate sitting out this season."

According to Cottle, those goalies who start as freshmen go on to become outstanding players. A hot goalie can take a team a long way, especially in the playoffs.

And if that's the case, then Syracuse, Loyola and Virginia are beating the odds now, and might beat them in the future.

mike.preston@baltsun.com